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zippy5

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THis being our second game in 2 days you could see the guys going for the 3 ball because they could not penetrate.  Some of the 3 balls were penetrate and dish but a lot of the 3 balls were just long shots without any passing.  They are great when they fall but they were not falling today.  We really do not have a dominating center and that hurts our inside game.  Utomi can use his strength against Chicago State but against the bigger bodies he just drifts to the 3 line.  It seems like most of his shots were from 3 pointers.  

 

I am some disappointed that Groce did not try to get the guys away from the 3 point shot.  I thought that we were done with our reliance on the 3 pointer when KD left.  I never thought we would see 40 3 pointers from this team because of our athleticism.  This team needs to work on getting some easy shots.

 

I can not understand why Groce prefers Klac to Sayles.  Klac looks so slow on defense.  Poke also does not look very good and you saw that we went small at the end of the game instead of bringing poke into the game.  Hopefully, this type of competition will get us ready for MAC play.

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As I watched the game it seemed to me coach Groce needs to address two things: 1) better shot selection on our 3's and, 2) better play out of the center. If we want to shoot 3's I don't have a problem if we don't force it and we get a good look at the basket. I thought Riak was going to be the answer for us in the paint, but today raised more questions than it answered. He looked lost at both ends. Poke is limited and Klac is still a work in progress. I hope Sayles responds to whatever coach Groce wants. He's looking like the post player with the best potential.

 

This team is going to be good yet this season. They just need time.

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19 minutes ago, dre22era said:

This is what you get when we hire Ohio U's leftovers 

You act like we're in a bad place. This is year 2 of Groce, who inherited a roster that had 4-5 scholarship players, and we're already competing against the #16 team in the country and one of the best mid-majors in college basketball. We have growing to do, but I expect for us to challenge in the MAC this year. I honestly thought it would take Groce 3-4 years to get where we are now. IMO we're ahead of schedule.

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There are certain steps you can't leapfrog on the road to becoming a great basketball team.

 

The coach-speak statements of "trusting your teammates" and "making the right basketball play" are true. If you want to play hero-ball, you'll lose more often than not. Especially against a team that plays smarter than you. 

 

I saw a fair amount of hero-ball today, and not making the right basketball plays. These players are talented, but until they learn to play together we'll only be mediocre. 

 

We grew and improved over the course of last season with our ragamuffin 2017-18 team . I think we'll do the same this year. It's just a process...

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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

You act like we're in a bad place. This is year 2 of Groce, who inherited a roster that had 4-5 scholarship players, and we're already competing against the #16 team in the country and one of the best mid-majors in college basketball. We have growing to do, but I expect for us to challenge in the MAC this year. I honestly thought it would take Groce 3-4 years to get where we are now. IMO we're ahead of schedule.

Yes I believe we are 
3 to 4 years to get where we are now? 
Where are we now?

jtXM7YS.png

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I did not see the game.  Darn work.  Looks like a  letdown game.  I hope the players use this to fuel their hate fire for losing.  March is what counts in college basketball and getting there is a process.  There are a lot of things to build on and a lot to work on.  I think the coaching staff will have the right messaging for the guys.  So long as they buy in and trust the process they will be in a good place in March.  OH, and fire Milwee.

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36 minutes ago, dre22era said:

Yes I believe we are 
3 to 4 years to get where we are now? 
Where are we now?

jtXM7YS.png

Why do you feel like that considering we came within 3 points of knocking off a 16th ranked team?

 

This team looks like a serious MAC contender from what I've seen so far. Illinois State was picked to finish 2nd in the MVC and Clemson returned 4 starters from a Sweet 16 team.

Edited by kreed5120
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Damn, there goes our at-large bid.

 

I was on the road today, so I was unable to participate in the misery.  This program is a work in progress. If they are here at this time next year, I will be unhappy, but we have to be patient. Plus, football brings me enough misery. I need hope in some program.

Edited by clarkwgriswold
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1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Damn, there goes our at-large bid.

 

I was on the road today, so I was unable to participate in the misery.  This program is a work in progress. If they are here at this time next year, I will be unhappy, but we have to be patient. Plus, football brings me enough misery. I need hope in some program.

Please ban anyone who cites RPI or any other metric to show we are still an at-large bid.

 

That being said, this should be a fun season.  The Zips just need time to grow as a team and let the new players settle into the rotations.  

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17 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 How about KenPom?  LOL.

 

Hey, did somebody mention Kenpom? Don't worry, I am not holding out hope for an at-large bid. Maybe next year. But these metrics do a surprisingly good job of showing which direction your program is headed in relation to the field. Even with these 2 loses Kempom ranking shows us slowly climbing the ladder. And now, according to their metrics St. Bonaventure is the weakest team in this tourney. Also, Boise State has moved up considerably and Illinois State has dropped considerably. Please don't ban me, bro!!   :bow:

 

Kenpom Ratings (As of November 21th)

 

19 - Clemson

36 - Creighton

100 - Georgia

113 - Georgia State

122 - Boise State

128 - Illinois State

145  132 - Akron (after our last tourney game)

157 163 - St. Bonaventure

 

 

https://kenpom.com

Edited by Illini Zip
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9 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Why do you feel like that considering we came within 3 points of knocking off a 16th ranked team?

 

This team looks like a serious MAC contender from what I've seen so far. Illinois State was picked to finish 2nd in the MVC and Clemson returned 4 starters from a Sweet 16 team.

Oh not another moral victory argument again and lets please not act like the MVC is a Power 5 conference. 

We lost to freaking Illinois State on a neutral court. THATS NO QUALITY LOSS 

I have us finishing 2nd to last in the MAC East Division. 

 

Edited by dre22era
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Moving on, the Bonnies from St. Bonaventure are up next for the Zips. Smooth sailing again today at work - 3rd day in a row with an 11a-1p meeting. Dual-screen multitasking with Frenchy and Dunn on in the background (and way behind live action).

 

Courtesy of GoZips.com -

"The Akron-St. Bonaventure Series - Akron and St. Bonaventure have one time in series history, and Wednesday's game will be the first time the two teams shared the court since the 1942-43 season. The Zips won the lone meeting 39-36 at St. Bonaventure. However, Groce faced the A10 squad when coaching at Ohio, falling 112-107 in four overtime periods in 2010-11."

 

NO way we shoot that poorly again today ;-). I'm calling it for the Zips, 78-67. :thumb:

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I thought we looked a little sluggish in the first half. I think the physical battle we had the day before with Clemson caused us to have a poor shooting effort in the first half. Just didn't seem to play with the same edge we had on Monday. I also think Illinois State was determined to not get embarrased like they did on Monday. All we needed was for a few more shots to go through the hoop and we could be 2-0. Another encouraging thing is how well we have taken care of the ball. Only 5 turnovers yesterday and 4 on Monday.

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16 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

I thought we looked a little sluggish in the first half. I think the physical battle we had the day before with Clemson caused us to have a poor shooting effort in the first half. Just didn't seem to play with the same edge we had on Monday. I also think Illinois State was determined to not get embarrased like they did on Monday. All we needed was for a few more shots to go through the hoop and we could be 2-0. Another encouraging thing is how well we have taken care of the ball. Only 5 turnovers yesterday and 4 on Monday.

Didn't we have 15 turnovers against Clemson?  I was really pleased to see us improve that so drastically yesterday.

Edited by ZipsBurgh
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7 hours ago, dre22era said:

Oh not another moral victory argument again and lets please not act like the MVC is a Power 5 conference. 

We lost to freaking Illinois State on a neutral court. THATS NO QUALITY LOSS 

I have us finishing 2nd to last in the MAC East Division. 

 

Not a P6 conference (Big East is a major basketball power), but the MVC still sent a team to the final 4 last year. When's the last time the MAC did that?

 

It's a game I would have liked to win, but certainly not a loss I'm going to lose sleep over. I was more impressed with us playing with Clemson for 40 minutes.

 

I have Akron finishing 2nd in the MAC East behind Buffalo. Time will tell whose forecast is more accurate.

Edited by kreed5120
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